UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US black metal movie / THE EGG horror film

Our secon​d scree​ning at Gothe​nburg​ Film Festi​val has sold out. There​ is one scree​ning left,​ ticke​ts and info avail​able athttp:​//​www.​filmf​estiv​al.​org.

Pleas​e join the maili​ng list by sendi​ng an email​ to until​film@​gmail​.com.​ We'​ll send you updat​es on scree​nings​ and avail​abili​ty.​ And we won'​t send you anyth​ing else,​ or share​ your email​ addre​ss.​Third​,​ and the real reaso​n for this bulle​tin,​ is to let you know that we'​ve just put up a new websi​te.​ It's at:

http:​/​/​www.​black​metal​movie​.com

We'​re makin​g a coupl​e tweak​s in the next few days. Check​ back next weeke​nd (​proba​bly Sunda​y)​ for the new trail​er.​

Event: Until The Light Takes Us - Louisville, KY June 15 "Flyover film Festival"What: PreviewHost: Until The Light Takes UsStart Time: Saturday, June 13 at 6:30pmEnd Time: Saturday, June 13 at 8:30pmWhere: Kentucky Center for the Arts

Examples? And what do you mean with "interesting"? You mean this doesnīt happen when uninteresting movies are made?

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You have to wait for the world to care beforre you ever get to see it.

The world? Or just Obama? Or do you mean this documentary needs to be featured on Mtv before they can release a DVD? I really donīt understand what you mean, youīre being very vague. I care about this documentary, plenty of others do, who else needs to care?

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It's just what happens when people without money make movies.

People without money make movies, are you serious? Please stop with the ridiculous metaphores, they donīt work in your advantage...

Learn to read between the lines and stop being so rude. These people don't have the money to release it on DVD so they need it to be shown at films festivals in order to attract people to invest in it and give it more publicity. People without money make movies and they are called independent movies, thus there is less money to release them on DVD right away. If they gain enough interest from these screenings then maybe you'll get your DVD, if they do no then the film won't go anywhere through lack of funds.

Ok, first of all let me try to assure everyone that I am not trying to troll anyone here. I just couldnīt help but notice that Sammaellofiīs response was very unclear. If you want to have proper discussion youīd better learn to express yourself decent. "Learn to read between the lies" is not an argument, if you fail to get your message across then itīs your fault and not the readers. And I donīt think being honest and explaining to people what you think their mistake was is the same as being rude, in fact it would be rude not to admit to your own mistakes and trying to blame it on the person who confronted you with your error.

People without money are just that, they have no money. When you say people without money I think of starving african babies with flies on their faces and stuff. I donīt automatically think of some film school graduates that own cameras and can afford to fly to different locations to record a documentary. The documentary was recorded on a low budget and I respect them for that, calling them "people without money" is an insult both to them and to the intelligence of the person youīre conversing with. This isnīt the metal retards forum is it? This is a place for intelligent people who do not exagerate because they know it will undermine their credibility, right?

Back to the discussion: I think the main problem with this documentary is that theyīve been advertising it since 2007 (summer if my memory serves me correct) It was supposed to be released in 2008 and weīre halfway 2009 now. So yes I am running a little impatient. Of course I understand that films are screened sometimes months before their official release, but this isnīt just a screening this looks more like a whole tour. Thereīs still quite a hype around black metal, look at the lords of chaos movie thatīs being made atm for instance and the numerous amounts of other black metal documentaries, and this documentary has most of the important figures of BM in it (including Varg) so Iīm not immediately convinced that theyīd have trouble trying to find a company that will release it for them.

But hey, itīs ok if you think Iīm childish for being pissed off that some LA weekly reviewer got to see this movie before I did. Personally Iīm just wondering by now who they really made this movie for: for the fans or for the mainstream or maybe just to use it as a stepping stone for their own careers? Be critical - itīs the metal thing to do.

ok, apologies for mistaking the tone of your post. I think they don't have money is meant to mean that they spent it all on making the film so they do not have any left for promoting the thing. But this discussion is bordering on pedantic.

Its quite possible that they are using it merel as a stepping stone for their career, but i am wiling to withhold my judgement until i get to see it. There could be many reasons for hipster film reviewers having the privilege of seeing it before actual fans, but it could just be that they need the backing to get it off the ground. But as i say, we won't know for sure until the general public are able to get their hands on it.

Examples? And what do you mean with "interesting"? You mean this doesnīt happen when uninteresting movies are made?

Quote

You have to wait for the world to care beforre you ever get to see it.

The world? Or just Obama? Or do you mean this documentary needs to be featured on Mtv before they can release a DVD? I really donīt understand what you mean, youīre being very vague. I care about this documentary, plenty of others do, who else needs to care?

Quote

It's just what happens when people without money make movies.

People without money make movies, are you serious? Please stop with the ridiculous metaphores, they donīt work in your advantage...

Give me a fucking break... I was only joining in on the complaint that good movies never seem to get anywhere, but let me respond to your points.

-By interesting, I mean a movie I would be interested in. That is all. It was just an observation.

-By the world being interested, I simply meant that it did not have the Hollywood marketing machine behind, so it needs to gain interest on the street level. I was responding to your claim that this is some kind of hype going on, when really it was the lack of hype creating the problem. I have no idea why you brought up Obama.

-There are no metaphors in my post. These were independent film makers on a small budger. "No money" was not a metaphor, but a slight exageration, but yes it has been known for people with almost no money to make movies, by the way.

Please go outside and talk to people. Sorry for the rudeness, but I feel like a better hold on social skills would have made my elementary post easier for you to read.

I can understand the necessary formality of promoting this film via festival screenings, but a large number of people have been interested in it for some time now. Why don't the filmmakers make it available for download on a website, then release an optional DVD later? If I were interested enough in a phenomenon to document it and expose it to the world at large, it'd be a purely selfless endeavor.

Maybe this is a lesson to remember: authentic filmmakers, like authentic musicians, should hold onto a stable day job for practical reasons.

I can understand the necessary formality of promoting this film via festival screenings, but a large number of people have been interested in it for some time now. Why don't the filmmakers make it available for download on a website, then release an optional DVD later? If I were interested enough in a phenomenon to document it and expose it to the world at large, it'd be a purely selfless endeavor.

Maybe this is a lesson to remember: authentic filmmakers, like authentic musicians, should hold onto a stable day job for practical reasons.

Everyone here knows you are right, but we cannot assume these men are completely selfless. To be fair, even though it look like it is not, this film could be very bad and a hype machine in itself. I don't think it will be, but still we know nothing about the agenda of these men.

Maybe it costs $50,000 to make the film. Distributing it would cost $500,000.

So you make the film and try to hype it enough to get distribution.

This could be a turd of a film. Most black metal documentaries are sensationalistic and never get into the why people make this music, act the way they do, and what they believe and why they believe it.

Like all things modern, they focus on the external, because inside we're all the same or 1789-2009 was a big mistake!!!

I did the most sensible thing and send them an email. (first I thought they could only be contacted through their myspace and I didn't feel like opening an account there for the 3% chance of them replying) and they replied. I simply asked them why it was taking so long and didn't insult them or anything and that worked. Here's their reply:

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Hi. I usually don't respond to emails like this, which are somewhat accusatory in tone. But, I think you have a genuine interest to know the answer, so here: The idea that we are trying to cash in is beyond ludicrous. We are hundreds of thousands of dollars IN DEBT (and that is literal) because of this film. I have spent a huge chunk of my life working on it. I don't do charity work, this has been the most difficult endeavor of my life and I've never been paid a cent for doing it. This was not some quickie, cheap, "anything goes" project like, perhaps, other "films" you might be thinking of. We conceptualized, crafted, worked, sacrificed, and struggled to get this done the way we thought was right. Anyone who thinks that ANYONE makes a proper documentary film to "cash in" is insane, stupid, or simply ignorant.

Another thing you may not be aware of, is that we are working within the film industry, and there are rules. This film has two executive producers, contractual obligations, sales agents, and way more going on behind the scenes than you can possibly know about. People don't just give you money to make a movie and expect nothing back. I wish. It is very naive to think that we could made the kind of movie that we made, with the budgetary requirements, and not have any strings. There are strings, and lots of them, and obligations.

Furthermore, the film industry imploded right when we premiered the film at AFI in LA last October. The six best independent film distributors went out of business. Suddenly, there was no one around to distribute an indie doc about a foreign music scene. We did get some offers, but they weren't appropriate for the film. We are trying very hard not to have it released in an exploitation context. We are more interested in waiting for the right partnership to come along, or in driving everything forward ourselves, than in giving up control to the handling of the film to a company we don't trust.

We are in talks with several distributors. We don't owe anyone anything. I laugh sometimes when I read people talking about us like clueless hipsters trying to cash in. 1) They're implicitly calling Varg and Fenriz stupid. We spent two years with them, and if they didn't sniff us out as losers in all that time, then perhaps those making the ignorant assumptions might want to ask themselves what qualifies them to? Okay, I put 1) like that ias if there would be a 2) but I'm getting bored of writing this and I'm really busy.

We're talking with DVD distributors, when we find the right partnerships in each territory, we'll announce the release. The film is acreening in London and Belgium in October, more cities TBA. Perhaps you are near those cities and could make one. I'll add you to the mailing list if you're not already on it so you'll get the added cities.

One last thing: we're not screening this movie "so much." A film typically screens at festivals for one full year before a theatrical release. That is exactly what we're doing. We didn't invent this you know, there is a pre-existing framework for independent film and to think that we can just magically exist outside of that is just...incorrect

We are happy with the film we made, and we think it deserves to be seen by an audience. For that to happen, there are certain things that we have to do. I understand that you are frustrated because you want to see it, I understand that, even appreciate it, but we've worked so long and so hard, that we re committed to doing it right. It WILL be available on DVD. In time.

Audrey

I told them I'll just wait and hope they won't be promoting their movie on Oprah I also told them I'd post their reply here for information purposes.

Well, has anyone seen it? I'm thinking about telling them I'll help with flyering and whatnot, (I actually can't believe they're going to be bringing this to my city as there is no scene and hardly any fans here) but I'm a little bit apprehensive. Particularly of this kind of thing:

Most black metal documentaries are sensationalistic and never get into the why people make this music, act the way they do, and what they believe and why they believe it.

I think documentaries being sensationalist is a more general trend anyway and I would hate to help these people peddle their shit, if that's what it is, but it does look somewhat promising or I wouldn't even ask.